


The Pony's Tale

by Mardy



Category: The Immortals - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2013-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-05 16:17:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1096033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mardy/pseuds/Mardy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>No company, no apples, no decent grass.</i> Behind her, the infant immortal's chewing of horsehair continued unabated. <i>And no kicking, trampling, or biting. Lovely.</i> </p>
            </blockquote>





	The Pony's Tale

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Laughing_Phoenix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laughing_Phoenix/gifts).



_I don't like this any better than you do, that's for certain sure_ , said the gray mare, curving her neck to glare and back both ears at the cat-sized dragonet currently teething on a hank of wiry ponytail. _But the stork-man says Daine needs quiet to finish her lesson, and so here we are._ She looked longingly over the fence at the other ponies gathered in the wider meadow, under the lone apple tree with its fruit just coming into ripeness. _No company, no apples, no decent grass._ Behind her, the infant immortal's chewing of horsehair continued unabated. _And no kicking, trampling, or biting. Lovely._

A swat of the tail sent the month-old dragon known as Kitten -- a name less airy and far more apt than Skysong, Cloud thought -- tumbling off-balance with an indignant squawk. _Daine didn't say no swatting,_ Cloud pointed out. _That was me being generous. Any foal your age would have known better than to go around nibbling on her elders; that's just plain horse sense._

The dragonet blinked her slitted blue eyes, clearly considering that statement. Then she dropped to all fours, pawed the dirt with a forefoot, and let out a fluttering trill suspiciously like a whinny. Cloud snorted. _Now you're just being ridiculous._

Suddenly a thunder of feet sounded outside the paddock, followed by a great shaggy shadow and the the groan of a fence rail under heavy paws. _Oxdog_ , whickered Cloud before even turning her head. Behind her Kitten chirped and squeed at the arrival of Tahoi. _You're out early._

_Things to sniff! People to see!_ The big dog gave Kitten's scaly hide a thorough nosing-over and even got in a quick lick to the Cloud's whiskered chin before the pony could bare her teeth at him. _Onua isn't a morning person, but I am._ Lifting his muzzle slightly, he inspected a rucksack slung over the nearest post. _This has the scent of Daine's things. Where is she?_

_In the stork-man's nest._ Cloud flicked an ear toward the palace on the hill, and the mage's tower rising high among the turrets. _She needs no distractions while learning. And this little distraction is badly in need of a lesson or two herself._ Kitten stuck out her long tongue, and got another swat of Cloud's tail for her impudence.

Tahoi's own tongue lolled as he grinned at them both. _Daine told me dragon kits are cleverer than the two-legger variety. Maybe as clever as People. You might learn something yourself, wolfmare._ He'd called Cloud that long before he knew her history, on account of her color and her teeth and her temper. Once the dog had found out she'd actually run with a wolfpack for a time, he'd taken to using the name as often as possible, though the gray mare let it be known she'd steal a bite out of anybody else who dared say it to her face. _What's inside?_ he asked, nosing again at Daine's bag. _Smells good._

_Bones. The smaller ones are for the kit to teethe on, with some sort of magic set on them so they won't splinter, though she prefers gnawing on fingers, tails, the stork-man's hoard of magic stones..._ Cloud trailed off with a glare at Kitten, who had pulled the bag down on herself with a muffled squeak. Several bones fell out, along with other bits and bobs and Dainish oddments: a fistful of late summer berries, slightly squashed; a snapped bowstring; pearly pieces of shell from the Emerald Ocean, their edges polished smooth as riverstone by the tides and shiny enough to catch a magpie's eye from a distance; an antler from the floor of the Royal Forest, half-gnawed away by several sets of teeth as strong as Cloud's, though far smaller. _The biggest bone is for you, oxdog. Go and enjoy it somewhere else._

_My thanks_. A K'miri war cry sounded from the second story of the Riders' barracks. Tahoi's grin stretched wider. _Ah, my sweet mistress is awake and ready to greet the day._ His jaws closed around the hambone. _I'd best bury this and run. See you later at the practice field, wolfmare, small one._ He bent his hairy head to touch Kitten lightly, nose to nose. 

_Dogs_ , grumbled Cloud to herself, watching him lope off. At her feet Kitten rummaged through the bag's contents, piping and chattering softly as she went. The pony only noticed the puppets after the dragonet had tugged them both out and was pulling and poking at the wooden limbs and tangled strings with her sharp, silver claws. _Here now! Leave those alone._ Cloud plunged her head and snapped her teeth around the strings, lifting the twisted and forlorn little toys up out of the dragonet's reach and laying them down with surprising care on top of the empty bag, so that Daine could sort out the mess when she got back. Kitten shrilled and scolded, blue-gold scales shifting to pink and then angry red, but the pony silenced her with a look. _Those aren't for you to play with. They're important to Daine, and to me._

Kitten peered down at the puppets, one of them a two-legger female with eyes painted blue as the dragon's own and faded yellow ribbons for hair, the other a pony painted off-white with dark grey flyspeck marks stippled from nostrils to rump. Its mane and tail were real horsehair, the same color as the flecks in its coat. The dragonet tilted her head questioningly.

Cloud sighed a profound and resigned sigh. _It's a memory. They both are._ She indicated the pony puppet with a dip of her chin. _That one had the full name of Falcon-Gentle. It means some kind of female predator bird, but I forget which one -- Daine could tell you. She was known as Gentle to her friends, and falcon-fierce to anyone who gave her reason to be, including a foal or two on occasion._ Kitten curled up against the pony's front legs as she spoke, but Cloud didn't warn her away this time. _It's good to have a memory you can pick up and look at and hold, even if it isn't real and alive anymore. That's why we have to be gentle with what's left. Understand?_ She breathed on Kitten's neck, lipped her behind the ears, but the dragonet was fast asleep. _Good idea_. Cloud yawned, and let her own eyes fall shut against the heat of the climbing sun.  


* * *

  


"So _that's_ where I left them."

Cloud came awake to the sight of Daine untangling the puppets' strings with a deftness borne of old practice. "I'd clear forgotten taking them up to the royal nursery yesterday. Kally 'n Roald wanted to know what Ma looked like, you see." She repacked the rucksack, carefully stowing the little playthings last of all. "I was fair certain they'd want to see what _your_ ma looked like, too."

_They only got to see her as a bundle of sticks and spiderweb._ Cloud snorted her disapproval. _Next time tell them to think of a mare like me, except smaller and paler and speckled. And scarier when she wanted to be._

"Not much scarier," Daine said, and reached up to give the bony underside of the pony's jaw a fond rub, then another for Kitten as she uncoiled herself, freeing Cloud's legs. "I'll ask Spots and Tahoi to mind Kit during meditation tonight, so you can have a rest and--" 

_Nonsense. Those two would let her run roughshod all over them. She minds me well enough._ Cloud felt a familiar tug on her tail, and turned to fix the dragonet with a stern eye. _More or less._


End file.
